Escapement Watch Review: IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “JU-AIR”

From a recent piece on the online replica watches uk magazine Escapement, Angus Davies provides an in-depth review of the IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “JU-AIR.” This limited-edition watch celebrates the 20-year relationship between a Swiss airline and the famous Schaffhausen-based watch company.

The Junkers JU-52 was manufactured between 1932 and 1945. It provided service for military operations, as well as for civil use. It was used by German and Swiss commercial carriers alike. The JU-52 revolutionized flight at the time, with its unusual, corrugated Duralumin fuselage. Duralumin, an alloy of aluminum, copper and magnesium, is both strong and light. These properties, combined with three powerful radial engines, allowed the civil aircraft to travel greater distances than before.

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Various engines were used in the JU-52 in its early life, but the primary power plant for this aircraft was the BMW 132. This engine had nine cylinders and a displacement of 27.7 liters and produced between 700 – 900 horsepower, depending on the engine variant used.

The 17-seat airliner eschewed the superfluous and stuck to flight essentials, making it both reliable and, notably for the period, capable of long distance travel. The Swiss Air Force operated the plane from 1939 to circa 1982, making it probably the last and longest serving JU-52 in any air force.

IWC, a brand synonymous with producing pilots’ watches since the 1930s, has been a longstanding supporter of a Swiss airline which continues to fly JU-52s. JU-AIR, an airline founded solely to preserve the JU-52, having procured the remaining planes from the Swiss Air Force, is privately owned and is assisted by a team of volunteers. The airline, based in Dübendorf, near Zurich, operates four JU-52 aircraft, one of which carries the IWC nomenclature on its wings and tail section, in recognition of the financial support provided by the Schaffhausen-based swiss replica watches brand. This year, to celebrate 20 years of working with JU-AIR, IWC has produced a special chronograph, limited to only 500 pieces.

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I recently visited Harrods, the iconic and prestigious department store in London’s Knightsbridge, and spent a pleasant morning in its IWC Boutique, appraising this latest timepiece from Schaffhausen.

The dial:

In 2012, IWC revisited its Pilots’ watches, launching several new models, including a very handsome timepiece, the Spitfire Chronograph (Ref IW387802), which features a stunning ardoise dial. It is this model that has provided the basis for this special chronograph, the Edition “JU-AIR.”

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The dial of the Edition “JU-AIR” is rhodium-plated, evoking a silvery hue, and features fine, brushed lines that radiate from the center.

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The hours are marked with applied Arabic numerals, lined with white luminescent material in their centers. A triangular index, typical of pilots’ IWC replica watches online of the 1930s and 1940s, appears at 12 o’clock. This was a feature on the legendary Big Pilot’s Watch 52 T.S.C of 1940 and continues to grace the dial of today’s IWC Big Pilot.

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch 52 T.S.C Circa 1940

A chapter ring, sitting higher than the adjacent dial surface, incorporates a combination of Arabic numerals and simple black strokes. At 3, 6, and 9 o’clock luminescent batons reach toward the central dial area. The chapter ring collaborates with the central chronograph seconds hand to provide lucid communication with the wearer.

Legibility is a prerequisite for any pilots’ watch and this latest model from IWC does not disappoint. The hour and minute hands are bold, featuring white luminescent material, and confer ease of interpretation day or night.

The bi-compax layout is wonderful and accords a pleasing balance and proportion to the dial. Small seconds are displayed on the lower, snailed subdial adjacent 6 o’clock and include a useful hacking seconds function, faithful to those of historical pilots’ cheap replica watches of yesteryear. The seconds hand on this subdial is depicted in red.

Below noon, a 60-minute chronograph register resides. It shares the same design language as the small seconds display, save for the use of a white hand.

At 3 o’clock, the date is shown via an elongated aperture, resembling an altimeter. It reveals the prevailing date, indicated with a red triangle positioned adjacent, together with the yesterday’s and tomorrow’s dates. It is intuitive to use and interpretation is simple.

“Simple” is a word that could easily be used to describe the overall dial design. This is not a criticism, but rather a compliment, as the watch conveys purely the essential — typical of a cockpit instrument. However, the perception of seeming simplicity is overturned with prolonged examination. Scrutinizing the dial closely reveals this is actually a complex dial construction with numerous levels to its composition. The result is an abundance of charm which should confer lasting ownership enjoyment.

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Moreover, the brushed appearance of the central dial area cleverly interacts with the light. Most of the time it appears to share the same hue as the snailed subdials, but in some light it can adopt a darker shade. At no stage is this distracting, but rather grants additional eye-appeal.

The case:

The case measures 43mm in diameter and has a height of 15.5 mm, dimensions that make the replica watches for men very wearable. Indeed, I found the watch conferred a particularly comfortable fit.

The stainless steel case is satin brushed on virtually all surfaces — save for the bezel, push-pieces, crown and ring adorning the caseback, which are all highly polished. This bestows an almost muted characteristic that doesn’t distract the wearer from focusing on the dial display.

Adorning the caseback, located within the aforementioned highly polished ring, is an engraved depiction of a Junkers JU-52, framed with the description “One out of 500.”

Complementing the finely chiseled features of this horological beau is a black alligator leather strap, partnered with a brushed steel folding clasp.

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Corum Golden Bridge & Miss Golden Bridge Ceramic

In 2015, Corum celebrates the 35 years of its mythical movement Golden Bridge. An anniversary conjugated to the feminine and to the masculine and expressed by two new models which found the values of the brand: legitimacy and pioneering spirit.

When the brand Corum created the Golden Bridge in 1980, did its founder René Bannwart suspect that he had just launched a model which was not only going to become one of the pillars of his company but also an icon of the Swiss replica watchmaking?

The remarkable design of this timepiece all in transparency was certainly in line with the philosophy of a brand which wished from its creation to take place in the avant-garde of the watchmaking industry. The model completed an already very creative collection alongside with the very sporty Admiral’s cup watch. It also reached a branch of the watchmaking industry where no other watchmaking manufacturers had chosen to venture: the one of the “baguette en ligne” movement.

Thirty years later, this movement, which meanwhile became mythical, remains an exceptional achievement and a unique replica watchmaking expression. Composed of 140 components arranged in a parallelepiped rectangle of 33 mm in length, 3 mm in width and less than 5 mm in thickness, it is a masterpiece of micromechanics offering a balance wheel with variable inertia, a barrel with slipping spring, a power reserve of 40 hours, a 4 hertz frequency ensuring reliability and precision, and hand-engraved bridges and plate made of fine gold… At this level of miniaturization, there are few other pretenders.

The Miss Golden Bridge proposes a feminine expression of a design which has made his mark on the watchmaking history. It’s in a whole new ceramic case that the coveted movement is staged. The technical challenge that confronts this material is high because the fineness of the ceramic case is against a large proportion of sapphire crystal. The slim black case just supervises the movement of gold, marking a break between colors and shapes. The faceted hands overlap with lightness the CO113 caliber. The middle, opened above, below but also on its sides, still plays many effects of transparency and allows the movement to be admired from all parts, through its sapphire glasses. However, it comes rethought in a very feminine spirit, in a thin, slender and curved tonneau shape. Its horns were removed so that the hand-stitched crocodile bracelet perfectly integrates the case, setting itself in its continuity, in the style of a cuff watch. The crown located at 6 o’Clock emphasizes the refined character of this contemporary and elegant case.

At the time of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the famous Golden Bridge model, all credit is also to men, as a new model is entirely dedicated to them.  Always true to its avant-garde reputation, Corum chose the compromise between a traditional dial and a simple sapphire crystal. The new Golden Bridge model introduced in 2015 is indeed equipped with a metallic glass background. This treatment applied directly on the sapphire crystal allows a clever play of transparency – sometimes opaque on the wrist, sometimes translucent to light. The lines enshrined by the metallization movement make echo to the gold baguette. Devoid of any index, only faceted hands break this verticality. Following the example of all the details which make of this timepiece a masterpiece, the calibre CO113 is also visible from the back of the Cartier replica watches sale, through the sapphire crystal caseback.

Slim d’Hermès Pocket So H

Certain designs encapsulate the entire graphic culture of a House and the So H motif, created in 1971 for a Hermès tie, is definitely one of these. It now appears for the first time on the cover of a pocket replica watches uk: Slim d’Hermès Pocket So H. This exceptional model is issued in six-piece limited series for each of the four creations, respectively featuring a hawk’s eye dial with pink gold case; an ox-eye dial with gem-set rose gold case; an onyx dial with white gold case; and an aventurine dial with gem-set white gold case.

Giving life to this skilfully orchestrated interlacing pattern of “Hs” is a task that demands a particular blend of infinite patience and technical mastery. The finishing of the cover alone takes around 45 hours. The artisan begins with a previously openworked gold plate. A small graver is used to eliminate any rough patches on the surface of the Swiss replica watches cover and render it completely smooth, while devoting particular care to the interwoven “Hs”. Then comes the polishing. In a subtle rhythmic dance performed with pegs made from various types of wood ranging from the hardest to the softest, the artisan applies different pastes that will gradually rub down the gold and reveal its full brilliance.

The light, airy composition of the So H cover protects a hard stone dial of which tantalizing glimpses appear through its openings. Whether adorned with white diamonds or in a replica watches simply polished version, it distils a time that is infinitely Hermès, beating to the steady pace of the ultra-thin Manufacture Hermès H1950 calibre.

DeWitt Academia Mathematical

DeWitt unveils an extraordinary technical innovation, an automatic watch with a prestigious watchmaking tradition behind it – in the form of a mysterious replica watches uk that has no hands.

Entirely designed and hand-assembled within the Manufacture by our own master watchmakers, the Academia Mathematical watch, DeWitt’s 4th Concept Watch, is the fruit of months of research and development.

DeWitt’s mystery watch concept bears witness to the passionate interest in mathematics shown by its founder, Jérôme de Witt. Far removed from the conventions of traditional watchmaking, the numerals indicating the hours and minutes give the impression that they have been scattered, thrown into chaos so that in the end they can give the precise time. There are no hands, but rather totally autonomous jumping numerals that come to life by lighting up in the centre of the Swiss replica watches to indicate the passage of time.

It is thus that a grand watch complication, with its complex mechanisms and painstaking precision, places itself at the service of poetry.

Comprising 384 pieces, the Mathematical movement is based on the new DeWitt Manufacture automatic calibre, most of the components of which have been produced in-house, and all of which have been hand-assembled by our master Patek Philippe replica watchmakers.

It operates at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour and features a screwed balance and a 48-hour power reserve. With its bridges decorated with both circular and bevelled Côtes de Genève patterns and its circular-grained mainplate, all the movement’s finishes are hand-crafted.

Fitted with a 42.5 mm round case in 18-carat rose gold, the Academia Mathematical watch is adorned, like all DeWitt cheap replica watches creations, with the brand’s emblematic imperial columns.

An entire watch concept rather than just a watch

Its aesthetic design and mechanical structure reflect DeWitt’s uniquely inventive approach to fake watchmaking, culminating in a myriad of fascinating calculations that drive relentlessly towards the nature of universal beauty.

Speake-Marin Bi-Tourbillon

Le Bi-Tourbillon de Speake-Marin (Vertical Double Tourbillon en anglais) dispose de deux tourbillons de 60 secondes liés par un embrayage à ressort pour plus de précision, d’un cadran en émail grand feu, d’un indicateur de réserve de marche et d’un indicateur de jour et de nuit. Les tourbillons ont été positionnés verticalement sur le côté gauche afin de faciliter la lecture de l’heure. En gardant les tourbillons discrètement sous la manche d’une chemise, il est tout de même possible de lire l’heure. Speake-Marin exprime ainsi l’excellence d’une sophistication discrète.

Le tourbillon joue un rôle important dans l’histoire de Speake-Marin. En effet, le premier garde-temps à avoir porté le nom de Speake-Marin était la « Foundation Panerai replica watches », une montre à gousset que Peter Speake-Marin avait équipé d’un tourbillon à échappement.

Peter Speake-Marin reconnait la capacité du tourbillon à améliorer la précision du garde- temps en contrant les erreurs de positionnement dues à la gravité, mais c’est l’aspect visuel de cet échappement hypnotique qui l’a conduit à ce projet.

« Le tourbillon est une des choses que j’aime le plus en horlogerie », dit-il. Pas pour la précision qu’il apporte au garde-temps, mais de part l’animation qu’il donne au cadran. Il indique comment le temps passe d’une façon unique que les répétitions-minutes ou une même les grandes sonneries ne parviennent pas à reproduire. C’est quelque chose qui, pour moi, possède une grande profondeur. »

Le cadran excentré retient tout d’abord notre attention. Réalisé en émail grand feu, il affiche les heures et les minutes grâce aux aiguilles « Foundation » en acier bleui signées Speake- Marin. Juste au-dessus de ce cadran se trouve un indicateur de réserve de marche de 72 heures. Il indique la réserve disponible au moyen d’un indicateur en forme de demi-lune qui s’ouvre lorsqu’il est complètement chargé pour dévoiler les rouages et le mécanisme et se referme progressivement quand la montre se décharge pour être remplacé par un indicateur rouge. Sous le cadran excentré se trouve l’indicateur de jour et de nuit qui apporte à la montre un équilibre visuel en contrebalançant l’indicateur de réserve de marche situé au-dessus.

Pourtant, ce sont les pirouettes synchronisés des tourbillons jumeaux alignés verticalement sur la gauche qui attirent rapidement le regard. Un unique pont massif, impeccablement fini à la main avec un polissage miroir et les angles biseautés, maintient le côté supérieur des deux tourbillons. Chaque tourbillon possède son propre mécanisme indépendant alimenté par son propre barillet. Les deux barillets sont chargés simultanément grâce à la couronne.

Une minuscule boite de vitesses à ressort permet de limiter les imprécisions, car ce ressort absorbe et équilibre toutes les petites variations entre les deux cages. Nommé un « équilibreur de marche », il lie les deux régulateurs des tourbillons.

Les généreuses proportions de cette boite Piccadilly de 48 mm, qui est disponible en or blanc ou rouge, ont été longuement étudiées afin d’accorder au garde-temps une grande lisibilité sur l’affichage du temps, tout en accordant aussi de l’espace aux tourbillons.

En retournant la pièce, l’observateur est récompensé par une magnifique vue mécanique. La partie inférieure des deux tourbillons est ouverte aux regards et une petite roue, sur laquelle est gravée « Equilibreur de Marche » prend le rythme des deux régulateurs indépendants et transmets la moyenne des deux rythmes pour afficher une heure précise.

Bi-Tourbillon (Vertical Double Tourbillon Movement)

L’inspiration pour le design du pont et la décoration du Bi-Tourbillon proviennent d’un des premiers tourbillons de Speake-Marin : le Tourbillon Vintage MKII. Comme ce dernier, le mouvement du bi-tourbillon est réalisé avec des ponts en acier, perlé et plaqué avec du ruthénium. La platine est décorée aux trois-quarts par des Côtes de Genève qui partent du centre mais s’en vont dans deux directions.

L’équilibreur de marche, qui relie les deux tourbillons de 60 secondes, consiste en deux roues concentriques mise en place l’une au-dessus de l’autre. Un petit ressort est positionné entre les deux roues et est attaché à l’extrémité de chacune d’elle. Chaque roue se met en rotation avec sa propre cage de tourbillon et le ressort au milieu est mis sous tension lors que les vitesses des deux régulateurs diffèrent ou est soumis à un choc asymétrique.

Le Bi-Tourbillon appartient à la collection J-Class de Speake-Marin et est produit en une Edition limitée de 5 pièces en or blanc et 5 pièces en or rouge.

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